The Belt of Orion

One of the most obvious features people see in the sky is the three stars that form the “belt” across the middle of Orion; three stars in a row that appear to us of almost equal size and of equal distance from each other; Mintaka, the westernmost star in the belt, comes from the Arabic word for “belt” Alnilam, this center star in the belt, means “a belt of pearls” and Alnitak, the eastern-most star, means the girdle.